Responsible Office: Office of Procurement

Revalidated directive to comply with new 1400 Compliance requirements and administrative changes to include changing the procurement awards timeline from twice a year to once a year.

1. Policy

This directive establishes an award program that rewards NASA employees
for creating and implementing improved results on individual contracts,
or innovative changes in contracting processes that save resources and
enhance mission attainment. This award program is not a substitute for
other awards (e.g., annual performance awards); it is in addition to
other awards for which an individual or group may be eligible. This award
is defined as a superior accomplishment award for a special act or
service.

2. Applicability

a. This directive is applicable to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers,
including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers.
This directive applies to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory only to the
extent specified or referenced in the appropriate contract.

b. In this directive, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are
denoted by statements containing the term "shall." The terms: "may"
or "can" denote discretionary privilege or permission, "should" denotes a
good practice and is recommended, but not required, "will" denotes
expected outcome, and "are/is" denotes descriptive material.

c. In this directive, all document citations are assumed to be the
latest version unless otherwise noted.

d. This directive is applicable to NASA directives developed or revised
after the effective date of this NPR.

3. Authority

a. Subchapter I, 5 U.S.C., Chapter 45.

b. Office of Personnel Management, 5 CFR, Part 451, Subpart A.

4. Applicable Documents and Forms

NASA`s pledge to support the Office of Federal Procurement Policy award
program for outstanding results from contracting.

5. Responsibility

a. The Assistant Administrator for Procurement shall manage the
Acquisition Improvement Award program, including establishing the process
for making nominations, establishing the criteria for selecting
award winners and determining eligibility, in addition to being the
approving official for all awards made under this NPD.

b. The Procurement Officers shall award nominations will be evaluated in accordance with the
evaluation criteria described below, which are applicable to the
specific nomination. In addition, Procurement Officers will be advised
at the beginning of each award period when there are any additional
criteria or subcriteria that are applicable during that evaluation
period.

(1) The use of new techniques, or the innovative use of existing
acquisition approaches (e.g., using the Consolidated Contracting Initiative),
that reduce the cost or improve the quality or timeliness of the
acquisition and can be reliably measured.

(2) The effective implementation of acquisition streamlining techniques
that improve the use of all resources, including the size of the
acquisition team.

(3) The ability of the acquisition team to accomplish the acquisition
within established milestones, including completion of activities from
proposal receipt to award within 120 days.

(4) The application of Headquarters and Center Procurement Initiatives in such
a way as to achieve improved efficiency, effectiveness and/or better meet
customer needs.

c. Eligibility

(1) Only NASA employees who are not Senior Executive Service employees
are eligible for cash awards.

(2) Employees who have separated from NASA since the acquisition are not
eligible for cash awards.

(3) Headquarters employees, with the exception of employees of the NASA
Management Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are generally not
eligible for cash awards unless the contribution was both significant and
integral to the acquisition (e.g., a voting member on the Source Evaluation
Board {SEB}).

(4) While emphasis for this program is on a group (i.e., the entire
acquisition team), it is acceptable to nominate an individual(s) whose
efforts deserve recognition.

(5) None of these eligibility criteria preclude awards of other than
cash to anyone nominated and selected for recognition, including
employees not eligible for a cash award.

d. The Center Procurement Officers are responsible for crafting and
submitting nominations to Headquarters in accordance with the following:

(1) Awards will be made on a semiannual basis, in February and August.
Therefore, nominations must be received by January 31 and July 31 of each
year for acquisition actions completed in the preceding 6 months.

(2) Nominations must be submitted by the Procurement Officer in writing
to the Office of Procurement Administrative Officer at NASA Headquarters.

(3) Nominations must include the following information, as relevant:

(a) A description of how the acquisition activity meets the criteria
described in part 5a(1) of this document. Each item must be thoroughly
documented and contain a detailed explanation of the outstanding
achievement(s). Nominations will succeed or fail based upon the quality
of the supporting documentation and rationale.

(b) If nominating a specific acquisition, provide a brief title and
description, dollar amount, number of proposals received and evaluated
(if any), and number of days from proposal receipt to selection/award.

(c) Recommended monetary or other award amount and supporting rationale.
If a group award, indicate how the money will be distributed. The award
need not be monetary in nature; for example, providing time off
(in accordance with NASA policies) to a SEB that has had no free time
might be a better reward than money.

(d) A point of contact at the Procurement Office, including telephone
number.

(e) A point of contact for the funds transfer, including telephone
number.

(f) The Procurement Officer will normally make the award presentations.
Acquisition Improvement Awards may only be given to the individuals
selected from the nomination.

(g) A certificate, titled "Acquisition Improvement Award," and signed
by the Procurement Officer, will be presented to each awardee.

(h) The Procurement Officer should take all reasonable steps to provide
maximum recognition of the recipients of the awards. This could involve
awards ceremonies, posting photographs of recipients, announcements in
local newspapers or newsletters, etc.

e. The Office of Procurement Administrative Officer is responsible for
managing all aspects of the acquisition awards process except for the
evaluations of Center nominations. The Administrative Officer`s responsibilities
include all correspondence with the Centers, maintaining a history of past
awards, and transferring the appropriate funds to the Centers.

6. Delegation of Authority

None.

7. Measurements/Verification

None.

8. Cancellation

NPD 3451.5C, Acquisition Improvement Awards, dated April 18, 2003.

Revalidated May 7, 2013, ORIGINAL SIGNED BY:
/s/ Sean O'KeefeAdministrator

Attachment A: (Text)

(URL for Graphic)

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS

This Document Is Uncontrolled When Printed.
Check the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) Library to Verify that this is the correct version before use:
http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov